Juyongguan
Encyclopedia
Juyongguan or Juyong Pass is located in an 18 kilometres (11.2 mi)-long valley named "Guangou" which is inside Changping County
more than 50 kilometres (31.1 mi) from Beijing
City. It is one of the three greatest passes of the Great Wall of China
. The other two passes are Jiayuguan and Shanhaiguan
.
It had many different names in the past dynasties
. However, the name "Juyongguan" was used by more than three dynasties. It was first used in the Qin Dynasty
when Emperor Qinshihuang ordered the building of the Great Wall. Juyongguan Pass has two passes, one at the south and one at the north. The south one is called "Nan Pass" and the north one is called "Badaling
".
This pass was connected to the Great Wall in the Southern and Northern Dynasties
.
In the middle of Juyongguan, there is a "Cloud Platform" with another name of "Crossing Street Tower". It was made of white marble in the Yuan Dynasty
with a height of 9.5 meters. Around the top of the platform there are many structures such as stone railings and a watching post. They are still kept in the style of the Yuan Dynasty. In the middle of the base of the platform there is an arched door where men, horses and carriages could pass through. Many animal images were carved in the arched hole and the arched door. On the walls of both sides of the door, the statues of gods and scriptures are carved. There were three white towers on the platform in the past (this is how it got the name of "Crossing Street Tower") and were destroyed in the transitional period between the Yuan Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty
. Later a Tai'an Temple was built on the platform but was later destroyed in the Qing Dynasty
. The walls also feature inscriptions of Buddhist texts written in six languages and six scripts:
The present Pass was built in the Ming Dynasty
and received much renovation later. It is a very important strategic place connecting the inner land and the area near the northern border of China. It was also used to defend the ancient Beijing City.
Changping District
Changping District , formerly Changping County , is situated in the suburbs of northwest Beijing.Changping District, covering an area of 1,430 square kilometers, has 2 subdistricts of the city of Changping and 15 towns with total population of 614,821...
more than 50 kilometres (31.1 mi) from Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
City. It is one of the three greatest passes of the Great Wall of China
Great Wall of China
The Great Wall of China is a series of stone and earthen fortifications in northern China, built originally to protect the northern borders of the Chinese Empire against intrusions by various nomadic groups...
. The other two passes are Jiayuguan and Shanhaiguan
Shanhai Pass
Shanhai Pass , or Shanhaiguan, along with Jiayu Pass and Juyong Pass, is one of the major passes of the Great Wall of China It is located in Shanhaiguan District, Qinhuangdao, Hebei. In 1961, Shanhaiguan became a site of China First Class National Cultural Site.It is a popular tourist destination,...
.
It had many different names in the past dynasties
Dynasties in Chinese history
The following is a chronology of the dynasties in Chinese history.Chinese history is not as neat as is often described and it was rare for one dynasty to change peacefully into the next. Dynasties were often established before the overthrow of an existing regime, or continued for a time after they...
. However, the name "Juyongguan" was used by more than three dynasties. It was first used in the Qin Dynasty
Qin Dynasty
The Qin Dynasty was the first imperial dynasty of China, lasting from 221 to 207 BC. The Qin state derived its name from its heartland of Qin, in modern-day Shaanxi. The strength of the Qin state was greatly increased by the legalist reforms of Shang Yang in the 4th century BC, during the Warring...
when Emperor Qinshihuang ordered the building of the Great Wall. Juyongguan Pass has two passes, one at the south and one at the north. The south one is called "Nan Pass" and the north one is called "Badaling
Badaling
Badaling is the site of the most visited section of the Great Wall of China, approximately northwest of urban Beijing city in Yanqing County, which is within the Beijing municipality. The portion of the wall running through the site was built during the Ming Dynasty, along with a military...
".
This pass was connected to the Great Wall in the Southern and Northern Dynasties
Southern and Northern Dynasties
The Southern and Northern Dynasties was a period in the history of China that lasted from 420 to 589 AD. Though an age of civil war and political chaos, it was also a time of flourishing arts and culture, advancement in technology, and the spreading of Mahayana Buddhism and Daoism...
.
In the middle of Juyongguan, there is a "Cloud Platform" with another name of "Crossing Street Tower". It was made of white marble in the Yuan Dynasty
Yuan Dynasty
The Yuan Dynasty , or Great Yuan Empire was a ruling dynasty founded by the Mongol leader Kublai Khan, who ruled most of present-day China, all of modern Mongolia and its surrounding areas, lasting officially from 1271 to 1368. It is considered both as a division of the Mongol Empire and as an...
with a height of 9.5 meters. Around the top of the platform there are many structures such as stone railings and a watching post. They are still kept in the style of the Yuan Dynasty. In the middle of the base of the platform there is an arched door where men, horses and carriages could pass through. Many animal images were carved in the arched hole and the arched door. On the walls of both sides of the door, the statues of gods and scriptures are carved. There were three white towers on the platform in the past (this is how it got the name of "Crossing Street Tower") and were destroyed in the transitional period between the Yuan Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty
Ming Dynasty
The Ming Dynasty, also Empire of the Great Ming, was the ruling dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty. The Ming, "one of the greatest eras of orderly government and social stability in human history", was the last dynasty in China ruled by ethnic...
. Later a Tai'an Temple was built on the platform but was later destroyed in the Qing Dynasty
Qing Dynasty
The Qing Dynasty was the last dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912 with a brief, abortive restoration in 1917. It was preceded by the Ming Dynasty and followed by the Republic of China....
. The walls also feature inscriptions of Buddhist texts written in six languages and six scripts:
- Chinese languageChinese languageThe Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
in Chinese characterChinese characterChinese characters are logograms used in the writing of Chinese and Japanese , less frequently Korean , formerly Vietnamese , or other languages...
s - SanskritSanskritSanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
in Lanydza script - SanskritSanskritSanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
in 'Phags-pa script - Mongolian languageMongolian languageThe Mongolian language is the official language of Mongolia and the best-known member of the Mongolic language family. The number of speakers across all its dialects may be 5.2 million, including the vast majority of the residents of Mongolia and many of the Mongolian residents of the Inner...
in 'Phags-pa script - Tangut languageTangut languageTangut is an ancient northeastern Tibeto-Burman language once spoken in the Western Xia Dynasty, also known as the Tangut Empire. It is classified by some linguists as one of the Qiangic languages, which also include Qiang and rGyalrong, among others...
in Tangut scriptTangut scriptThe Tangut script was a logographic writing system, used for writing the extinct Tangut language of the Western Xia Dynasty. According to the latest count, 5863 Tangut characters are known, excluding variants... - Tibetan languageTibetan languageThe Tibetan languages are a cluster of mutually-unintelligible Tibeto-Burman languages spoken primarily by Tibetan peoples who live across a wide area of eastern Central Asia bordering the Indian subcontinent, including the Tibetan Plateau and the northern Indian subcontinent in Baltistan, Ladakh,...
in Tibetan scriptTibetan scriptThe Tibetan alphabet is an abugida of Indic origin used to write the Tibetan language as well as the Dzongkha language, Denzongkha, Ladakhi language and sometimes the Balti language. The printed form of the alphabet is called uchen script while the hand-written cursive form used in everyday... - Uyghur languageUyghur languageUyghur , formerly known as Eastern Turk, is a Turkic language with 8 to 11 million speakers, spoken primarily by the Uyghur people in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of Western China. Significant communities of Uyghur-speakers are located in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, and various other...
in Old Uyghur scriptOld Uyghur alphabetThe Old Uyghur alphabet was used for writing the Old Uyghur language, a variety of Old Turkic spoken in the Tarim basin, which is an ancestor of the modern Uyghur language. It was descendant of the Sogdian alphabet, used for texts with Buddhist, Manichaean and Christian content for 700–800 years in...
The present Pass was built in the Ming Dynasty
Ming Dynasty
The Ming Dynasty, also Empire of the Great Ming, was the ruling dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty. The Ming, "one of the greatest eras of orderly government and social stability in human history", was the last dynasty in China ruled by ethnic...
and received much renovation later. It is a very important strategic place connecting the inner land and the area near the northern border of China. It was also used to defend the ancient Beijing City.
External links
- JuYongGuan Great Wall Photo Gallery
- http://www.travelchinaguide.com/china_great_wall/scene/beijing/juyongguan.htm